


Garden of years

by waterlinkedgirl



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: 10ipuri, I did Not mean to make it as long as it became, M/M, exposition: the fic featuring mushy married couple ShiraYuki, happy birthday Yukimura, this started out as a hc thread so the format is a bit weird but please enjoy!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23033047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterlinkedgirl/pseuds/waterlinkedgirl
Summary: To score an interview with the famed pro tennis player, Yukimura Seiichi, was a right bestowed to few. And even less so live, in the very mansion he lived in, though its exact location was not one she was allowed to learn. But she hadn't counted on his other half as well...Set 10 years in the future, written for the #10ipuri tag on twt! Happy birthday, Yukimura Seiichi!
Relationships: Shiraishi Kuranosuke/Yukimura Seiichi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Garden of years

"So how does it feel knowing you revolutionised just about the entire professional tennis circuit?"  
"Pretty normal, actually."  
The interview was taking place in his and Kuranosuke's mansion, more specifically, in a lovely wooden gazebo amidst the bushes and trees of their garden.  
Yukimura liked this part of the garden, as it looked over both the flower beds they had so carefully grown together, and the tennis court a small bit into the green away.

The interviewer sitting on the chair across from him, however, seemed a little bit intimidated in spite of the peaceful scenery. He knew he hadn't yet seen her before, which might explain her nervousness. Even the most experienced reporters sometimes ended up shaking like a leaf across of him, after all, so he couldn't blame her.  
"Normal?" she asked.  
"Yes. With the state of health of the top 10 and the increasing unfeasibility of tennis as career, it was just a change waiting to happen."  
"But you were still the first to speak up and address the ranking officials, weren't you?"  
Yukimura chuckled.  
"I had more or less forced their hand by winning the Grand Slams without fully competing. But even if I hadn't, I reckon the boy, Atobe or Tezuka would have eventually spoken up by themselves."  
Atobe wasn't in the tennis circuit, per se, but he had managed to secure himself a position as leading figure in terms of sponsorships, exhibitions and competitions. He was looked up to in the scene like any other tennis player was, even through his frankly insufferable personality quirks.  
"Those three sure aided a lot in reforming the system, do you think so?"

Yukimura spared a glance at the window of the mansion to his left, where Kuranosuke was busy in the middle of reviewing a paper to be published. A smile made its way onto Yukimura's face as he watched him make notes on his integrated tablet.  
"They're not the only ones who helped me."

He folded his hands together, chin leaning on his thumb, fingers grazing over the ring glimmering silvery light on his right hand.  
As if his gaze hadn't strayed at all, he continued, "Everyone meant their own thing in my battle, and I know all had been necessary. While the boy and Tezuka were thankfully willing to side with my cause and give their words to the press, Atobe was able to stir things from within. I'm sure that when we were called the revolutionary brigade when we first broke into the rankings, bringing about this much of a change wasn't something we could have imagined."  
The revolution they started in middle school, when they first went against the world in the U-17 tournament, wasn't one he'd quickly forget. But that ten years later it'd lead him here...

Yukimura pleasantly leaned his cheek against his hand, the other dropping to the wooden table.  
"Of course, the support of my fans has been irreplaceable, and I thank everyone that stayed behind me even when I had to go against the established order.  
But the one that initially showed me the toxicity of the old system, the one without whose gentle hand on my back I wouldn't have been able to stand up to everything, was my beloved Kuranosuke."

He saw her flip through her notes, paper surprisingly, most likely to strike a good and traditional reporter's impression on the camera to her right. 

"You talked about the problems of the old system earlier, right? Can you...-"

A cold wind rustled the leaves, one of the strands slipping away from his ear, as the words stopped dead in her throat.  
"Tennis is about winning. One should be able to earn and gain proportional to their victories. A situation where merit is based on one's ability to support themself rather than tennis prowess is simply unacceptable."

She looked at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"As for the health-related part..."  
He didn't feel the need to keep his emotions in check. In fact, the camera would probably like to see that side of him more than any other, if anything he was just catering to the viewers. And what better way than being honest, really.  
"There have been too many good players that I have seen bringing themselves to the brink of their own destruction. It goes without saying that that shouldn't be the norm."  
Sanada against a younger Tezuka, for example, Tezuka himself back in the day, Tokugawa...  
"I have an admiration for those who are able to risk injury and retirement in a match, but it stops there."

Yukimura took in a breath, changing the palm of his hand for the back of his fingers.  
"I suppose you know what I went through when I was young? My unknown disease, the surgeries I went through to cure it, above all the harsh rehabilitation just to stand on the court again...  
I held such joy just to be able to hold a racket in my hand once more. I wanted to keep on winning, to keep on playing tennis, to reach the top and fight both for my country and myself. I felt it was hard, working my way up, but nothing I couldn't handle... That's what I thought, at least.  
The thought of having to rend all those struggles meaningless upon entering the top..."

A sigh left his lips, shoulders dropping.  
"Kuranosuke caught me before I could break my body. 'No human being is able to handle that kind of load,' he said to me. 'Not even you.'  
As if I wouldn't have believed him on his word, he turned out to have gone ahead and compiled a detailed report with data on not only me, but also the other top players in the field, referenced and well... I went through everything, of course."  
His lips curled up in a smile. "I'd never been more grateful he is so particular about health."  
A warmth filled his chest, softly, he folded his hand over that rising heat. Kuranosuke had helped him through the hardest times of his career, mentally and physically. As much as he didn't like to admit it, there had been times when his resolve weakened. But he had always been there, be it with the words he needed to hear, tender embraces when he could tag along on Yukimura's travels, or even a massage to heal his aching tendons. Without him...

"Probably, I wouldn't still be standing on these courts without my dear husband by my side."  
No matter how often he'd told the story of the process of him fighting in a new and other way to keep playing tennis, remembering Kuranosuke's smile and advice always made him feel at ease.

As if right on cue, he heard the door to the mansion open wider. He couldn't hide his smile when he saw Kuranosuke, a tray with three transparent cups filled with a familiar auburn liquid in his hands making his way over to the gazebo. Yukimura waved at him as he approached over the grass, and though his hands were occupied, his warm brown eyes greeted him gently.  
"I thought the two of you might appreciate a cup of tea. It's rooibos."  
"Oh, thank you! Yes, we'd love to have some."  
The tray was easily placed on the wood of the table, the sweet scent of the rooibos easily drifting into his nose when Kuranosuke put his personal cup before him.  
With a cordial nod to the interviewer Kuranosuke a cup down in front of her as well, before Yukimura felt his fingers slide slowly over his shoulder. Yukimura's gaze fell on them, on the warm shade cast by the ring adorning one, and he briefly caressed Kuranosuke's fingers with his own before looking up to see him smile at him.

"The paper?" Yukimura asked.  
"Minor revisions, then it'll be good to publish in Nature."  
He smiled.  
"I'm glad, it looked very promising."  
Yukimura mightn't have had the same university education Kuranosuke did, but one advantage of papers in Nature's publishing style is that the basic summary is still legible to him. Sometimes Kuranosuke showed him a paper coming in for review that he was very enthusiastic about, always willing to explain anything Yukimura didn't know, and sometimes, just for fun, Yukimura helped him give advice on legibility and word flow. 

"But what did I hear? Were you talking about me?"  
Kuranosuke's voice crooned sweetly in his ear, as the hand on his shoulder travelled up over his neck, and the back of his index finger lightly grazed his cheek.  
"We were, yes. You came just when I thought of you."  
Yukimura reached out to cover Kuranosuke's hand with his own, gently, flirtily leaning into the warm touch.  
"Was that really a coincidence, I wonder?" He was so glad Kuranosuke never lost his accent. He could hear the Kansai-typical pitches roll off his tongue, with that teasing edge he's always loved.

Yukimura smirked. "You must've read my mind, then."  
A soft chuckle from Kuranosuke's lips, mischievous. He closed his eyes, as Kuranosuke lowered his face to meet him in a tender kiss. Sweet, sweeter even than the smell of the tea, warmer, fuller. His free hand brushed over one of Kuranosuke's strands where it fell over his ear, felt him slightly deepening the kiss when he noticed.

Yukimura indulged for the full five seconds it lasted, until he broke it upon hearing a soft anxious noise rising from the interviewer.

"Y-You do know that's showing up on camera, right...?"  
"And it wouldn't be the first time," Kuranosuke smiled, caressing Yukimura's cheek, "nor will it be the last."  
A chuckle from his side. To prove Yukimura himself couldn't have said it any better, he leaned in again, pushing lightly against Kuranosuke's lips with his own. There was no way he'd miss that soundless, joyous yelp.  
Hand on Kuranosuke's cheek, a quick and victorious glance at the camera, before he swiftly let go.

Their gazes connected again. From behind the shade of the gazebo, the sunlight fell over Kuranosuke's hair, and his heart filled with joy that this was the man he had the privilege to be able to marry.  
"Will you join us? I'm sure you have your fair share of stories to tell."  
"Of course. That's what I came here for."  
One more seconds their gazes touched, before Kuranosuke turned his to the interviewer.

Kuranosuke held his hand out towards her.  
"I'm Seiichi's husband, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, part of the faculty of pharmacy at the OMC. Nice to meet you."  
"Y-Yes..."  
She shook it, and Kuranosuke took place on the free chair, close by his side, enjoying his own cup of tea.

"You two don't share surnames?"  
It seems that finally, the interviewer somehow refound her tongue.  
"We didn't feel the need to," Kuranosuke answered. "And neither 'Yukimura Kuranosuke' nor 'Shiraishi Seiichi' quite have the ring of our own names, right? I think it's proof that we're already balanced people, individually, and that our union only makes us stronger."  
"Besides..." Yukimura's fingers reached up to his right hand, his gaze softly falling on his ring. "We share something more important than the way we're called."  
"That's right," Kuranosuke said softly. He felt Kuranosuke's nose, lips, lightly brushing against his cheek, leaning over to Yukimura's side. "Something much more important."

"So that report you talked about previously, didn't that end up being the legendary report advocating for protection of the tennis players' health?"  
Her sudden change of subject was only further proof that it really was the first time she interviewed Yukimura-- or either of them, for that matter. And even given that, her stare was still fixed on Yukimura. She hadn't yet realized there was someone better to talk about said report, or perhaps she just wanted his own take on it. It was fine with him. He'd let her, for a bit.

"That's right. I'm glad he went ahead and worked to get it published, too. It turned out to be a strong pillar in the argument to change the tournament lineup and ranking structure.  
He's been as important as the other big figures, even if he doesn't always get the recognition he deserves."  
"It isn't his specialisation, though, right?"  
Yukimura chuckled.  
"It isn't, no, my dear Kuranosuke specializes in pharmacy. I have so much respect for him that he went ahead and dove into physiology as well just to write it..."  
Yukimura passed the interviewer's gaze on to Kuranosuke. "But you've got the real thing here, right? If you have any questions about my husband or his report, I do think he's the ideal person to ask."  
"Really, Seiichi, you praise me too much... I'm blushing here..."  
Cheeks red, the corners of Kuranosuke's mouth curled up. Yukimura chuckled once more.  
"I'm just telling my true opinions. You're the most amazing person I know."  
"As if you're not more amazing than I am!" Kuranosuke laughed. He twirled one of Yukimura's locks around his finger, before turning to the interviewer, returning to the matter at hand.

"While it wasn't my field of study, per se, it did help that I played tennis in middle and high school. Oshitari, a friend in the medical field, recommended me text books, eventually offered to review my report for inaccuracies before sending it to one of his superiors... I spent a lot of nights next to my study attempting to master a few years worth of matter from a different field, but if there's anything I knew watching Seiichi, it's that I couldn't give up. I didn't want him to have to quit doing the sport he loved so much."

Kuranosuke's eye fell down on his left arm, where Yukimura knew his bandage and gauntlet used to be, ten years ago, and beneath the table he reached out to touch Kuranosuke's right.  
"I know how hard trying to change something can be, but I never wanted to give up the hope things could be better. That's why my conclusion didn't just say that the current state of affairs was detrimental to the player's safety and wellbeing, but also weighed a few concrete proposals to change the conditions."

"He wouldn't tell me what he was working on when I was home with him. All I could do was hold him at night, give him coffee and words of encouragement."  
Kuranosuke's eyes met his, fingers caressing Yukimura's where his hand rested against his under the table.  
"You don't know just how much that meant to me. Thank you for being there."  
"It was the least I could do."  
Yukimura's hand reached up to stroke his cheek with the back of his fingers, a tender smile making it onto his face when Kuranosuke leaned in slightly to the touch.

"I'll never forget Kuranosuke's face when in the end, Oshitari-san came over to relay the word of his professor, that he had nothing to correct."

Kuranosuke laughed, slightly bashfully. "I only stayed faithful to the basis of the theory and of writing, so I was really surprised...  
Sometimes I still get requests to hold talks or guest lectures about different advanced topics in the general medical field, despite making clear my area is pharmacology. I'm honoured, of course, but simply making the matter of textbooks my own isn't enough to teach people on it, I think, and I only graduated a year ago too.  
So I have to turn most of them down... But sometimes I get really interested in the topic and put in the necessary research, talking to who I need to, to go out of my way to give them. I've learnt a lot about various subjects that way.  
I don't know everything yet, both in my own field and in others, but each time my knowledge grows bit by bit."

Yukimura closed his eyes.  
"It's no wonder how people have started calling him the 'Bible' again. It's a title he deserves, with all my heart."  
"Seiichi!"  
Yukimura delighted in seeing Kuranosuke's cheeks turn red, a vibrant smile on his face. He wished it would remain long enough for him to draw it.

The interviewer, however, seemed to have taken note of something.  
"'Again?' Have you been called the Bible before?"  
Kuranosuke leaned on his left hand on the wooden table, right next to his still hot cup of tea.  
"Yeah. That used to be my nickname in the middle and high school tennis circuit. Yukimura was the Child of God, and I the Bible. To think we'd eventually end up together..."  
Kuranosuke laughed. "You'd almost think it's fate."  
"But you don't play tennis anymore, right?"  
A quiet breath, a smile.  
"I don't play tennis anymore currently, no, except when Seiichi invites me to play doubles with him in an exhibition match. Even then, it's only by miracle that I'm able to keep up with the ball."  
"You still get pretty far with your Star Bible though, even if it isn't what it used to be."  
"Hey!" Kuranosuke laughed, playfully bumping Yukimura with his shoulder. Yukimura chuckled, bumping him back.

"You seem at ease with being interviewed, Shiraishi-san. This isn't your first time?"  
Kuranosuke laughed.  
"I'm a scientist. Conversing with people and giving talks is as much part of the job as the actual research. So I really don't mind showing up on camera every once in a while."

"It shows!" The interviewer laughed. "You're a pleasure to talk to."  
"Thank you." A friendly nod.  
Yukimura sighed softly in himself, still smiling. People seemed to be a bit more at ease interviewing Kuranosuke than him, sometimes. Perhaps he himself was a bit unforgiving in his opinions... But then again, he wasn't willing to compromise on the truth to come over kinder, either.

"Since we left off with tennis as a subject, Shiraishi-san, what do you think about your husband's views on it?"  
"My husband's views..." Kuranosuke leaned back a bit in chis chair. "It's a bit of a complex matter, and I'm not sure if I can answer it in full...  
Unlike Echizen-san, Seiichi doesn't think that tennis is supposed to be only fun, no matter what hell you go through. But it's not like he doesn't enjoy playing tennis, either."  
"Without experiencing the cold of winter, one won't know of the warmth of spring," Yukimura remarked. "Because I know the origin of my power and of the fleetingness of strength, I know in my heart of the joy it is to stand on court, racket in hand."  
Kuranosuke looked at him, from the corner of his eyes. Yukimura gave him a small nod, and he saw the corners of Kuranosuke's mouth curl up.  
"Right. Though I'd wish it upon anyone, I'm not sure if I could enjoy tennis in he same way Echizen-san does, either.  
The motto at the team of my old school used to be 'the one who laughs, wins!' alongside 'the winner takes it all.' I'd taken it upon myself to think, 'no matter how many great matches are played, if a team loses them, they're out,' and put myself first in the line-up accordingly, so that my team could play freely. I know what it is to have to win. But while I played tennis so others could enjoy it, rather than myself for a good while, Yukimura plays tennis for his own sake.  
I imagine it must be a bit lonely, fighting without a team. But Seiichi is out there, showing the world his own power, his own way. It isn't a style as kind as he is off the courts, but it's his own, and he doesn't compromise on gaining results. It's a side of him that I really love."

Yukimura fiddled with a loose strand of his hair, taking a quick sip of his tea to hide his face behind, even if just for a few seconds. He knew he was blushing, but if there was anything he wanted to try to do at least before the camera, it was keeping his face in check.  
"Thank you..."  
Kuranosuke briefly, dazzlingly smiled at him, before continuing his point.  
"For other people though, people just picking up a sport for fun, I don't think Seiichi's mentality works as well. I'd want someone just starting tennis to hold on to the feeling of fun just hitting balls to the other side as long as possible."

Yukimura had matured a bit since middle school. He'd always thought that people just starting tennis and gaining ranks were better off realizing where their limits were before they started thinking they were good and aiming futilely for a goal. Before they'd have to slam into the towering wall called despair. The ecstasy of victory is only for the strong, sure, but enjoyment can be for anyone.  
Outside of competitions, therefore, he now preferred letting people dream and wonder. They can step out of their shelter if they choose to, and he'll show them exactly what the outside world means.

"Though it's not as if Seiichi doesn't think the same. Right?"  
An easy, calm breath.  
"Yes. My mentality in that regard is limited to competitions only."  
"Really?" the interviewer asked.  
He chuckled.  
"Yes, of course. I have the decency not to crush a dreaming soul, unless it asks me to."  
The interviewer nodded, pen readied in her hand. It was not something she was using to write, since the interview was a broadcast one, but it did look intelligent and prepared. Especially for the way Kuranosuke entering threw her schedule in disarray.

"Returning to you, Yukimura-san..."  
His arms rested peacefully on the table, hand gently curled around the glow of his tea.  
"Yes?"

The interviewer's eyes slightly narrowed, shoulders tilted slightly forward.  
"Do you ever think about what it might mean if you yourself fail to live up to your own way of thinking?"  
He knew from the tone of her voice and the way she held her body she was out to get something from him. Something emotional. He knew he didn't have to give it to her, if he didn't want to, but he praised her gall.  
"For example?"  
A smile settled on his lips, never wavering, gentle.  
"Say, your playing starts to get worse, you start losing matches more often, when you grab your racket your hand--"  
"You're asking me if I fear my disease returning, right?"  
His interruption was clear, sharp, and to the point. His gaze laid on her equally so, but even though he could see the nervousness creep subtly into her shoulders, she was intent on getting her answer.  
She leaned forward, over her tea, her eyes were as sharp and inquiring as he'd been expecting.  
"Do you?"

Yukimura held his tea in his right, slowly swirling the fluid around in his cup.  
"I'm aware that if my quality of play ever starts degrading, it'll be the first thing people will start to say. It does put the pressure on the kettle a bit.  
However, I do believe I've plenty showcased that I am fully healed, and will be for the years to come. Anyone defeated by me can testify for that.  
So a relapse..."  
His gaze softened. "No, it's not something I fear.  
I want to put trust in the doctors who cured me, that their efforts-- and my own, during my surgeries and the rehabilitation, were not in vain."  
Yukimura looked over to Kuranosuke next to him, and quietly took his hand in his own. Above table, this time.  
"I will also put my trust in my husband, the one closest by my side, that if anything were to become off he would be the first to notice."  
He smiled. "That's why I won't doubt myself if I ever fall short in a competition."

"I see, I see..."  
She hovered a bit over her paper with her pen, before she opened her mouth again.  
"Is there something you enjoy, outside of competitions?"  
Yukimura blinked once, slightly caught off guard by what he could hardly interpret as anything else but a jab, before laughing behind his hand.  
"It's funny you should ask that! In my rest days, I like to paint, and whenever I can I still take care of the garden here."  
He gestured to the green around them.  
"I'd give you a tour, but I understand time is a bit tight on your end. But you have my daffodils on the left," he gestured to the yellow and white swatches of colour near the mansion, "a few young apple trees over there next to the bed of camellias right there, roses, though they're not in bloom, and most important of all Kuranosuke's greenhouse."  
"Your husband loves plants too?"  
Yukimura laughed merrily.  
"Yes. I love taking him to botanical gardens when we're abroad, actually. I know a lot of the stories and mythology behind flowers, while Kuranosuke can tell me everything about why they are so fascinating, scientifically. Sometimes, we find flowers neither of us have seen before, and we're just out discovering new flowers together."

He looked out at the greens, bathing in the early spring sun.  
"My place in the top does mean I can't be here all days of the year. Kuranosuke, when he's not travelling with me, or in the worst case someone else, takes care of plants and flowers in my stead if I'm away. But I believe there's something really beautiful about taking care of living, growing beings with my own hand. Something very humbling."  
He let out a fond breath. "The same goes for painting. It really takes you to look at small details, to try to draw out a beauty that might otherwise have been hidden.  
The flowers in he garden are pretty, and I like to draw them over the seasons, but Kuranosuke is still my favourite painting subject."

Yukimura chuckles, lightly leaning against a blushing Kuranosuke's shoulder.  
"Do you think you're good at painting?"  
"I wouldn't say I'm bad, at least, though my art skills most definitely aren't on the level of my tennis. I like painting in watercolour, and impressionistic art. Since my childhood I've always been in love with the French classics, in particular Pierre-Auguste Renoir's works, so I always look forward to the French Open to visit an exhibition outside the matches. Of course, I'm happy to take Kuranosuke along to see them as well."  
"Really, there's no time I regret it, either," Kuranosuke joined in, leaning his head against Yukimura's.  
"I'm glad."  
He closed his eyes to take a moment to bask in the warmth of that gesture, before turning to the interviewer again.

"What do you think the key to happiness is?" she asked, watching the two of them.  
"The key..." He hummed. "I don't think there's a singular key to happiness. There isn't a singular thing you can whip and twist nonchalantly to escape from the dark, and I know that better than anyone else. I might have broken free from it, in the end, but there's no denying that the fight for my happiness throughout the years was one with strife and hardship."  
He was talking as much about his stay at the hospital, as his battle for the right not to break his body to play his beloved tennis.

"I do have a few pieces of advice, though. When the established system fails you, there's generally two things one may try. One is getting out of a harmful space, the other is trying to conform and finding solace in other things.  
I-- We, really, opted for a third. It's the hardest route by far, and there's no guarantee it'll succeed. I wouldn't have been able to do it alone, either. There isn't a single key, no, but there are myriads of little shimmers of light in this world able to shine the way, give you the strength to open the door. I think Kuranosuke therein was among the brightest, to me.  
Above all, what I've went through has taught me that I want to try not to compromise my own happiness. And certainly not before having tried everything in my power to seize it."

He smiled. "I'm not alone. If you're struggling, you're not alone. Family, friends, lovers, even just people on this Earth knowing the same hardship as you, will be there, and in this age human connection is closer than ever. No matter which route you try, or what colour your days may be. Likewise, if you find someone struggling, even the smallest things can mean the world."  
"No man is an island, after all," Kuranosuke added. His motto, ever since the end of middle school.  
"That's right. And when times may look like there's sea on all sides, it's a good time to set sail and send a message."

She nodded in acknowledgement, quietly folding her note book in front of her.  
"One final question to the both of you..."  
They were reaching the end, it seems. He knew there were people of his among the sparse crew to send her off, together with the rest of them, but that didn't change he'd have preferred to do it himself.

"What are your hopes for the future?"  
"How far are we talking?" Kuranosuke asked. "5 years? 10 years?"  
"Something like that."

Kuranosuke folded his own arm over the other, a pleasant smile as he briefly closed his eyes. To imagine said years, likely.  
"While Seiichi's battling for the top, I know I still have a while to go until I might reach there in my field.  
My own research group, maybe... Or maybe I'll take to teaching. Or both!" he laughs, "I'm not too sure yet.  
I do know I'm happy where I am, aiding in the development of medicines. It's not always been easy, but with Seiichi by my side, I feel like I can do anything."  
Yukimura smiled at him, softly caressing his hand from where his still overlaid Kuranosuke's.

"I might have reached the stage I plan to be at," Yukimura started, "but I doubt staying there and reaching to be the number one will be easy. In the years to come, I hope I'll be able to steal a Grand Slam off the boy and the others."  
He chuckles, before slightly tilting his head down, continuing.  
"I want to be realistic. Eventually, maybe in 10 years, hopefully later, my hand will start slipping, and I won't be able to hold on to my victories anymore. A new generation will take over. But even so, I don't want to stop playing tennis.  
I'll probably focus on art and my garden if I can't compete anymore, as well as organising a few more charity projects of my own hand. I do know the tennis court in the garden will remain occupied until I'm well older. But right now..."  
Yukimura took a moment to appreciate the contrast of Kuranosuke's shaded light brown locks against the white of the mansion, the green of the early spring's leaves. Kuranosuke noticed his stare, and when he did, Yukimura reached out to cup his cheek.  
"I'm happy right now. I think with Kuranosuke by my side, I will be in 10 years, as well."  
"And if I may be hopeful..." Kuranosuke whispered, "In fifty, and further, too."  
Not giving Yukimura the space to think about that as deeply as he wanted, his lips melded into Yukimura's, stealing his train of thought away. It's been 10 years since they first started dating, and yet he's never ceased giving him butterflies in the stomach. This time, it was only the black of a camera in the corner of his eye when the kiss broke that brought him back to the interview.

Yukimura could see she was still nervous with the two of them kissing while the cameras were still rolling, but it was an improvement over earlier.  
"I feel a lot of surprising sides to Yukimura-san, and even Shiraishi-san, have come to light just now."  
Yukimura smiled.  
"I'm glad to have given my words over the past half an hour," he said to her, and Kuranosuke nodded.

"It was a pleasure to have you two."  
She smiled, shook the both of their hands.  
"Thank you for your time! Now then, after this we'll be switching back to the studio. Richard-san, if you'd take the word!"

The light indicating the camera was rolling switched off, and with a friendly bow, the interviewer said her goodbyes to the two of them. Yukimura waved at her, still sitting in his chair, next to Kuranosuke. Right now, the two of them had a bit more freedom to drink their tea in each other's companionship, though the people around them were putting away their gears. It was only when their cups were starting to empty and they had waved at the last person leaving, that Yukimura went on to continue their conversation.

"Kura... When you said 'in fifty'..."  
"I want to age together with you. I hope this day this year for you may be as special as last, and as warm as all the next to come."  
Kuranosuke leaned close to him, lips to his ear, with that strange wish still lingering in the air.  
"Happy birthday," he whispered. "I reserved a spot at our favourite restaurant, I hope you'll appreciate fish?"  
Now that he thought about it, today was...!

Kuranosuke's smile was warm, handsome. "I'll give my presents to you when we're there."  
It didn't take him a split second to throw himself into a hug, arms wrapping around Kuranosuke's shoulders, around his chest. Kuranosuke's own folded over the small of his back, silently, warmly, leaning his head against Yukimura's just the way Yukimura leaned down against his neck. Breathing in the soft scent of vanilla lingering in Kuranosuke's embrace, softly feeling himself and his troubles melting, he could feel himself become at peace. His hand sneaked up Kuranosuke's hair, to tangle itself in it, to fondle it, hold him closer.  
"I love you, Kuranosuke. You'll let me pay you back, right?"  
"In a month you'll have your chance," Kuranosuke said, tone of voice teasing.  
"That's too long!" Yukimura laughed, then added, leaning up and leaning in close, "Is now fine, too?"  
"Mmh," Yukimura kissed him, taking his lips before he could continue, "I won't complain, at all~"  
"That's great..." He led Kuranosuke up from the chair, towards the mansion, knowing there'd be a softer and warmer surface there. Steps, interspersed with playful, ever deepening kisses.  
"I'll make sure you can look forward to April 14th, too."  
Kuranosuke beamed, "I love you, too, Seiichi," pulling Yukimura into a deep, soulful kiss, and he could hear the door click behind him.

After that, their lips didn't leave the other's side, not for a moment. Not until the sun had long shifted from east to west on the sky.


End file.
